Cain drops Newt, ready to back Mitt

Herman Cain made clear Tuesday that he is ready to throw his support behind Mitt Romney, making no mention of his endorsement of Newt Gingrich.

“I have always said I will support whoever the nominee is and it looks like Mitt Romney’s going to be that nominee, and we do need to get behind him,” Cain said on Fox News. “I remind people all the time … ‘Keep your eye on the mission.’ And the mission is to get control of the Senate, maintain control of the House and defeat Barack Obama. That means get behind the nominee, so, yes, I’m ready to get behind the nominee.”

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Cain, who himself dropped out of the GOP primary in December, had endorsed Gingrich in January, hailing the former House speaker as a candidate capable of addressing “the crisis of leadership in the White House.”

Meanwhile, asked about a recent poll that showed President Barack Obama with a hefty lead in likeability over Mitt Romney, Cain said Tuesday that he was confident this gap would eventually close.

“Yes, President Obama is very likable to most people if you just look at him and his family. But if you look at his policies which is what most people disagree with, it’s a different story,” he said. “So I believe there’s still a huge opportunity for Mitt Romney.”

The former CEO of Godfather’s Pizza also pressed GOP voters to get fired up about the non-White House races.

“They’re going to have to be excited about candidates down ticket. This isn’t just about who’s going to be president, even though that’s the most important one,” Cain said. “But they’ll also have to be excited about other candidates down ticket.”